Plenty has been written elsewhere on this site about "Underbelly" so there is no need for me to detail the plot or the relationship to real events. My purpose is to comment on the other commentaries. A few years ago, Screen time produced a mini-series based on the Bryce Courtenay novel "Jessica". It was aired on the 10 Network in Australia, presumably to boost their Australian drama quota. It bombed despite being of excellent quality. The reason was that the Ten Network audience has different expectations from the ABC audience. The same applies to "Underbelly". Though it has certainly rated well and is the talk of the office every Thursday morning, I can't help feeling that it would have been even more appreciated by those whose dials are rusted on to the ABC. Those who have commented here about low production values and those who have compared the show to "The Sopranos" give away their expectations as typical Nine Network viewers. They like slick, tightly scripted programs, typically produced by American networks. Thank heavens "Underbelly" didn't get the "Days of Our Lives" treatment. I feel that I know the characters in "Underbelly". The incidents and the people are straight out of the national news bulletins. This is a dramatised documentary in many ways. "The Sopranos", popular though it may be, is candy-coated fiction in comparison. Give me reality, rough with warts, any day.
Review of Underbelly
